THE Countryside Alliance has described the news that Ceredigion County Council issued no fines for fly-tipping in the last decade, despite more than 3,500 incidents, as “shocking”.

New figures from the Welsh Government show the council is the only local authority in Wales which has taken no enforcement action, including fixed penalty notices and prosecutions, between 2006 and 2016.

This is despite 3,597 recorded incidents of fly-tipping in the county, at a cost of £167,270 — or an average of £46.50 per incident — to the taxpayer to clean up after the offenders.

In an interview with the Cambrian News last month, the council’s Cabinet member for environment, Cllr Alun Williams, said that prosecution “doesn’t provide a real answer”, and argued that the costs to do so were unacceptably high.

But the Countryside Alliance has hit out at the council’s approach, labelling it a “false economy” and calling on the council to “act immediately” to take the issue seriously.

“It is quite shocking that the council has not issued any fines for fly-tipping in the last decade,” a Countryside Alliance spokesperson told the Cambrian News.

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “As with all enforcement action, the ability to serve a fixed penalty notice or instigate legal proceedings will be dependent on whether there is sufficient evidence available to secure a conviction.

“When dealing with fly-tipping incidents, formal action is one of a suite of interventions that can be utilised."

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